


A Better Man

by xsilverxlightx



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-27
Updated: 2012-04-27
Packaged: 2017-11-04 09:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/392477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsilverxlightx/pseuds/xsilverxlightx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack reflects on how much the Doctor and Rose changed his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Better Man

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a Then There's Us ficathon prompt. The prompt was: "Who I am; because of them." Jack. On Nine and Rose.

It has gotten to the point where Jack thinks that honestly everything about him is probably a direct result of their influence over his life.    
  
It isn't just because Rose made him immortal, though that may seem like the most defining part of his life and really he is so unbelievably grateful even as it is so hard to watch the people around him as they grow old or die young.    
  
He will never be able to thank them enough. They made him want to be better. He could be a hero for them, just to make them proud. At first, that was probably the only reason he did any of it. He had finally found people who were willing to love him unconditionally and praise him for everything good in him. He finally had people who truly mattered in his life again. Even after they left him on Satellite Five though, he kept doing good, kept trying to be a hero. Eventually it stopped being about hoping if he did enough good they'd come back for him and became simply the type of man he was.   
  
It's obvious even in his choice of clothing. He has decided on a look that suits him and he wears it always, like it is his armor, like he is the Doctor with his jumpers and leather jacket. His jacket in particular serves as a reminder of his time during World War II where he had an invisible spaceship and a girl was dangling from a barrage balloon and honestly he really didn't stand a chance.   
  
He starts to think of the people he lets into his life as his companions. He takes them on adventures and shows them things they'd never get to experience without him, some beautiful and brilliant others terrifying and tragic. He takes their hands and yells "Run!" But eventually they all die or leave him so he learns to cherish what precious little time he has with each of them and he carries them with him in his heart for the rest of his lives.   
  
Most importantly, he thinks, he learned how to love from them. That whole and all-consuming sort of love that isn't always about sex, though he is still him so that will pretty much always be a part of it or he just wouldn't be Jack anymore. It lets him see how truly fantastic the world around him really is and how brilliant all these people are, even as he witnesses unspeakable horrors and is forced sometimes to cause them as well.    
  
He understands now better than ever the Doctor's haunted and ancient eyes and Rosie's heartbreak at the tragedies and injustices they saw. But he feels an even stronger connection to the memories of their smiles and their joy and understands how even when things are at their worst, there is always the chance that it will get better and the idea that he could be the reason for that is worth all of the bad days.    
  
His friends have all changed him for the better, Tosh and Owen, Gwen and Rhys... Ianto. Even though he has loved them with all of his heart and cares for them more than anything, they still were never able to so wholly influence him as the Doctor and Rose, the stuff of legends, and the firsts of his many loves.


End file.
